©Shannon Gist
Chapter 2:1-11 (ESV) - Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
Fire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
but behind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
Before them peoples are in anguish;
all faces grow pale.
Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
They do not jostle one another;
each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like a thief.
The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
The LORD utters his voice
before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?
Question to consider: What causes the trembling of the people in this vision?
The warning given by Joel in chapter 2 is again of a great plague of locusts that blots out the light and covers the land. Yet the plague that covers the mountain is described as a “great and powerful people.” If this vision were depicting a literal plague of locusts of this magnitude, surely there would be a historical record of it. There is, however, a historical record of the devastation of the land in similar fashion by Sennacherib.
Joel calls for a trumpet blast from the temple mount (Zion) in Jerusalem to strike dread into the inhabitants of the land in knowing that their time of judgment had come. It is interesting that this army which causes the earth to quake and the people to tremble at their overwhelming speed and devastation was described by Joel as the LORD’s army. Even though Sennacherib probably attributed his success to Ashur, Joel understood that the God of Israel was the one who created the heavens and the earth and allowed the success of the Assyrian army to be His sword in carrying out judgment against Israel and Judah. The trembling of the people should therefore be attributed to the LORD and not an invading army.
Again, there are those who see this oracle as taking place entirely in the future because of the description of the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars as if there will be a point in time in which the sun stops shining or stars start falling from the sky. As we get to the end of chapter 2, I will provide more evidence for why I believe this language applied to the near-term judgment by the Assyrians, but I believe it is necessary to point out that those who profess to take these passages “literally” in thinking that stars can fall out of the sky are forced to take the phrase, “it is near,” figuratively. We cannot escape the use of symbols in apocalyptic visions. We can only choose our symbols.
I take “it is near” with a literal understanding because the Assyrians attempted their siege on Jerusalem within a few years of this oracle. I also believe that Joel was literally talking to the elders and inhabitants of the land at that time and not preaching past them to a generation thousands of years into the future.
The earth can literally quake when the hooves of thousands of horses are galloping toward battle, and if the earth shakes under someone’s feet, the heavens will appear to tremble. The smoke from the burning landscape and shower of arrows can appear to make the sky dark as well. It’s possible that these things are being depicted in the visions given to Joel.
I would also submit that the apocalyptic symbols relating to the sun, moon, and stars could date back to the dream given to Joseph in Genesis 37:9 where the sun, moon, and stars bow down to him. In this dream, they referred to the rest of his family bowing to Joseph as the Zaphnath-Paaneah in Egypt ("the man to whom hidden things are revealed") when they come to him for grain during the famine. If the symbol is applied to the nation in the apocalyptic visions, it would refer to the blotting out of the kings, religious authorities, and tribes as the nation is toppled in judgment.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving prophetic warnings in history in order to bring about the repentance of the people and the hope of reconciliation through Christ. Open our eyes to our own sin that we may abide in Christ and walk in newness of life. Amen.